1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to vending machines. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for establishing and managing subscriptions to purchase items from a vending machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vending machines are well known and have existed since the late 1880s. Some of the first vending machines were rudimentary devices primarily designed to dispense cigarettes and postcards. Modern vending machines are employed to store and dispense a vast array of merchandise in response to a customer request and appropriate payment. Such merchandise includes drinks, candy, frozen deserts, snacks, video tapes and children's toys.
Many vending machines are located in factories, office buildings, bowling alleys and other locations that repeat customers regularly frequent. Vending machine operators have found that by locating a vending machine in a high traffic area that is regularly frequented by the same customers, they can not only take advantage of habitual sales, but also take advantage of brand loyalty.
Although machine location, machine loyalty and brand loyalty influence the amount of revenue generated by a vending machine, vending machine operators are confronted with a number of problems which are not adequately addressed by the prior art. One such problem is predicting sales and determining how to stock a particular machine. Although habitual sales and brand loyalty help keep vending machine sales constant, there is no assurance that the regular customers won't purchase their favorite brand from another source. Another problem with prior art vending machines is the inability to complete a sale with a customer who has little or no cash. Yet another problem with the prior art is the inability to reward a customer for regularly frequenting the machine or for purchasing products in bulk over a predetermined time period.
The prior art has attempted to address the problem of predicting sales and determining stock quantities by providing vending machine management software. One such software product is "Windows for Vending PRO with Inventory" produced by VendMaster. This product enables a vending machine operator to report and analyze various historical sales data. VendMaster's product is intended to enhance a vending machine operator's ability to identify high-demand inventory, determine preferable times to stock the machine, and calculate suggested prices.
The VendMaster software, like other attempts to solve the problems of predicting sales and selecting products, utilizes historical sales data to estimate future sales. Using the VendMaster software, a vending machine operator has no assurance that historical trends will continue. A need, therefore, exists for a method or apparatus for more reliably determining future stocking requirements for a vending machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,792 of Levasseur et al. and 4,498,570 of King et al. attempt to solve the problem of providing bulk discounts to vending machine customers. Levasseur et al. discloses a control circuit for a vending machine that enables the vending machine to vend different items costing different amounts and in different quantities at a quantity discount. King et al. discloses a switching device for establishing a first price for a first item sold during a sales transaction and for establishing at least a second price for additional items sold in the same transaction. While these patents generally disclose enabling quantity discounts at a vending machine, they fail to solve the previously described problems facing vending machine operators. A significant shortcoming of these patents is that they both require a customer to take delivery of the bulk purchase at the time of the sale.
The prior art vending machines have attempted to address the problem of a user's shortage of change by providing local change machines, stored value card dispensers and magnetic stripe readers. These attempted solutions enable a vending machine to accept alternative modes of payment for products purchased from a vending machine. Change machines generally allow customers with paper currency to convert their small denomination bills into coinage. Stored value card dispensers and magnetic stripe readers allow users to use stored value cards and conventional credit cards to purchase products from a vending machine.
These approaches fail to completely abate the loss of potential customers. Specifically, prior art solutions have not addressed the loss of a sale to a regular customer who would make a purchase but for an immediate shortage of cash. Solutions employing stored value card dispensers and readers not only require a customer to carry a physical object in order to complete a purchase, but also present significant counterfeit and fraud issues. Magnetic stripe readers configured to accept conventional credit cards have the same problem, but are further limited by the sophisticated equipment and network connections that are required for proper validation. In addition, cards may be easily lost or stolen.
A need therefore exists for a method and apparatus that provides consumers additional payment options for vending machine purchases. A need further exists for a method and apparatus that allows consumers who make frequent purchases at a vending machine to receive items without depositing currency or presenting a physical form of payment every time a customer requests a purchased item. A need also exists for a method and apparatus for more accurately and efficiently managing and predicting inventory of a vending machine.
Accordingly, the shortcomings associated with the related art have heretofore not been adequately addressed. The present invention addresses such problems by providing an apparatus and processing approach that have not previously been proposed.